Why we're still lapping up the lattes

Faced with a medium-term financial forecast that is the economic equivalent of nuclear winter, it's not surprising we're buying less stuff. Consumer spending is down, and most retail outlets are feeling the corresponding pinch. One commodity, however, is bucking the trend: coffee.

We're still drinking plenty of coffee – enough of it that Starbucks is planning to open 300 new outlets, creating up to 5,000 new jobs. What is it about coffee that makes us want more of it when times are hard?

It's strange to think that decent coffee, not so long ago a rarity in Britain, is something we now regard as an entitlement. I know I do, and I certainly don't feel the same way about, say, cavolo nero. I can get by on kale until the sun comes up again in 2016.

Coffee, of course, makes us feel better in a way that posh cabbage doesn't. It may be an expensive hot drink, but it's also the poor man's antidepressant. As licit mood-altering substances go, coffee is the only one that most consistently maintains a near equal balance of news stories proclaiming its dangers and touting its benefits: it's almost exactly as bad for you as it is good for you. And while it may be harmless, it's also reliably addictive. As the economic outlook gets gloomier, one would expect to find the British public on the hunt for ever stronger coffee. Apparently not.

Research from Glasgow University has found that the level of caffeine in shop-bought coffee varies widely, with some outlets selling espresso containing six times the caffeine found in others. One Glasgow shop was selling espresso shots with 322mg of caffeine in it, which sounds like something you'd drink on a dare. Guess whose coffee came bottom, with just 51mg per serving? That's right: Starbucks.